**We have a few 1er Cru’s and 1 Chevalier-Montrachet available – Call us on 1300 811 066**
Full disclaimer – Domaine Bernard-Moreau et Fils has a sentimental place in my wine history. Alex came to work with us at Yering Station in 1999, I headed to Chassagne later that year working with him for the harvest. The hospitality of his family and the people of Chassagne was boundless! Since then the Domain’s portfolio has expanded to include a presence in Volnay and the addition of the two Grand Cru’s Bâtard-Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet. Under Alex’s leadership, the wines have continued to push to achieve excellence. It’s with a certain amount of pride that I offer his wines to the Wine Decoded community.
Vintage 1999 at Domain Bernard Moreau
The landscape of runs from just south of Chassagne (left) across to Puligny. The Grand Cru’s are in the 2nd and 3rd photo from the right. Yes, these pic’s were taken pre-digital! Read an almost finished retrospective of the vintage in the Wine Bites Mag.
About Domain Bernard-Moreau et Fils
The winery’s roots go back to 1809 when Auguste Moreau built a cellar across from the Champs Gain vineyard and farmed his few hectares of Chardonnay and Pinot along the golden slope. The 1930s saw an expansion of the family’s vineyards under the guidance of Marcel Moreau.
Roughly 80% of the Domaine’s current vineyard holdings were acquired by Marcel. At age 14, Bernard Moreau took over the vineyards and cellar in the early 1960’s. In 1977 the reputation of this great estate was fully established under the leadership of Bernard and Françoise Moreau and the winery was named Domaine Bernard Moreau. In addition to the changes in equipment, farming and winemaking, they also purchased additional land bringing the vineyard total to 14 hectares. To help with winemaking, viticulture and sales, sons Alex and Benoît joined the Domaine after having worked in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Alex and Benoit loosely split the responsibilities of the operation with Benoit more focused on the vineyards and Alex more focused on the cellar.
As with most all great Burgundian estates, the emphasis at Domaine Moreau is on terroir. Treat the vineyards right and they’ll reward you ith superior fruit. To maintain healthy, balanced soils the winery uses organic fertilizers and no pesticides. To ensure greater flavor intensity they farm the land for lower yields through pruning, debudding, green harvesting in August, leaf thinning for Pinot Noir (on the morning sun side), and the planting of cover crops in certain vineyards to encourage competition and soak up moisture.
The 1er Cru Chardonnays are barrel fermented and aged in French oak barrels (10%-30% new). The wine spends between 12 and 18 months in wood with a little lees stirring early on for added texture. Says Bernard, “The spirit of our winemaking is to not touch the wine too often. For Chardonnay, our aim is to produce very clean and precise wines which are not too austere. We like the minerality and purity.”
The red wines are aged in French oak barrels (10%-50% new) for 12 to 20 months depending on the vineyard and vintage. Bernard states, “For our Pinot Noirs we don’t do any racking, fining or filtration. We want to make the purest expression of the Pinot Noir from our vineyards.”
*Stocks of the Grand Crus and Premier Crus are extremely limited. First come, first served. Wines are available for immediate delivery.
About the Wines
Vin Blancs
2015 Bourgogne Blanc
The 2015 Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Moreau is very pretty, offering up a zesty nose of white flowers, pear, white peach, a touch of fresh almond and chalky soil nuances. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, crisp and juicy at the core, with good acids and fine length and grip on the bouncy finish. A lovely example. 2016-2023. 88.
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet
If there is anyone in the village that makes a more consistently beautiful bottling of Chassagne villages than Domaine Moreau, I would love to taste it! The 2015 version is another excellent example in the making, wafting from the glass in a refined and complex blend of apple, pear, a touch of orange zest, superb minerality, spring flowers, vanillin oak and the first presage of the pastry cream to come with a bit of aging. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and succulent, with excellent mid-palate depth, fine focus and backend mineral drive, bright acids and a long, crisp and classy finish. Fine juice. 2016-2030+. 92.
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet “Chenevottes”
In the mid-1990s, I drank so much beautiful ’92 Chenevottes that the memory of this cru is indelibly etched in my memory. The Domaine Moreau 2015 immediately took me back to those days, as it offers up a gorgeous and absolutely classic expression of Chenevottes in its aromatic constellation of apple, a touch of tangerine, candied lemon, spring flowers, chalky soil tones and a deft framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and succulent on the attack, with a great core, impeccable focus and balance and a very long, vibrant and complex finish. This will be even better with a couple of years in the cellar, but good luck trying to keep your hands off of bottles of this beauty! 2018-2040. 93.
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet “Maltroie”
In my experience, Maltroie always shows more “wet stone” minerality than chalkiness in its soil component, and this is indeed the case with the lovely 2015 version from Domaine Moreau. The bouquet is superb and utterly classic in its profile of apple, pear, wet stones, lemon blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and a bit more reserved in personality than most of these previous premier crus, with a rock solid core, bright acids and a very long, nascently complex and vibrant finish. This will demand a couple of years to blossom. 2018-2040+. 93.
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet “Morgeot”
The 2015 Morgeot from Alex Moreau is a brilliant example of the vintage! The bouquet is pure, vibrant and very classy, soaring from the glass in a blaze of lemon, pear, complex, chalky soil tones, vanillin oak and lemon blossoms in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and utterly refined in profile, with a stunning core of pristine fruit, great soil inflection, bright, zesty acids and laser-like focus on the very, very long and very classy finish. Simply brilliant Morgeot! 2017-2045. 94+.
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet “Grandes Ruchottes”
The 2015 Grandes Ruchottes chez Moreau is simply stunning. The bouquet is deep, pure and utterly refined in its constellation of pear, apple, chalky minerality, hints of the crème patissière to come, lemon blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, elegant and bottomless, with stunning balance and breed, a great core, bright, zesty acids and a very, very long, primary and scintillating finish. Just add bottle age! 2020-2045+. 95.
2015 Bâtard-Montrachet
The 2015 Bâtard-Montrachet from Domaine Moreau was raised entirely in a one wine cask, with the wine racked into another one wine cask, so this may well be the only example of Bâtard in the Côte de Beaune that saw no new wood in this vintage! The wine is utterly brilliant, soaring from the glass in a pure and magical blend of lemon, apple, chalky soil tones, pear, incipient notes of pastry cream and a nice touch of vanillin oak (despite being raised in one wine casks). On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and utterly beautiful in profile, with a great core, laser-like focus, bright acids and great length and grip on the perfectly balanced finish. A supremely elegant Bâtard in the making! 2020-2050+. 96+.
2015 Chevalier-Montrachet
The Moreau family’s 2015 Chevalier-Montrachet is equally stunning on both the nose and palate. The classic and very beautiful bouquet delivers a classic blend of apple, pear, lemon, hints of the crème patissière to come, complex, chalky minerality, lemon blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and utterly seamless, with great balance and focus, a superb core of fruit, marvelous soil signature and a very, very long, vibrant and youthful finish. A wine that is very deep, light on its feet and includes all good things! 2020-2060. 97.
Vins Rouges
2015 Chassagne-Montrachet “Vieilles Vignes” Rouge
The 2015 Chassagne V.V. included twenty-five percent whole clusters this year and was raised in ten percent new oak. The wine was showing very nicely, despite only having been racked two weeks ago, as it offers up a pure and black fruity blend of black cherries, bitter chocolate, pigeon, a complex base of soil tones and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and a bit chewy today (probably more a result of the recent racking than any sign of less-polished tannins), with a sappy core, fine soil inflection, lovely focus and grip and a long, promising finish. 2019-2045+. 90+.
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